Note: Subscriber count on the dashboard of the YouTube Studio beta and YouTube Studio mobile apps is updated in near real time. Subscriber count in Creator Studio Classic may be delayed up to 24-48 hours.

Removing closed accounts & spammy subscribers

What are closed accounts and spam subscribers?

Closed accounts: These are accounts that were either closed by the user, or terminated by YouTube due to a policy violation.

Spam subscribers: Subscribers gained through artificial means, such as purchasing subscribers through a third party service.

We regularly verify the legitimacy of the accounts and actions on your YouTube channel. This is part of a process to ensure that our site metrics are free of spam, abuse, and closed accounts to keep YouTube a fair playing field for everyone. It’s important that subscriber numbers stay meaningful to ensure that when your sub count grows, it’s because you’re organically building a community of authentic fans who will keep watching and supporting you.

Closed accounts as well as subscribers that are identified as spam will not count toward your total number of subscribers, and won’t show in your subscriber list. Since these are artificial actions, removing them does not impact views or watch time.

Gaining subscribers through artificial means

We believe that growing your channel should be done by creating quality content that entices viewers to subscribe, and not through artificial or coordinated exchanges.

Offering to subscribe to another creator’s channel solely in exchange for them subscribing to your channel, also known as “Sub4Sub,” is not allowed. Creators who offer such exchanges risk losing subscriber numbers, receiving a Terms of Use strike, or even having their channel terminated.

Additionally, services that attempt to boost YouTube subscriber numbers through automated means or via a marketplace violate our Terms of Service, such as:

Purchasing subscribers from third-party websites\

“Sub4Sub” exchanges and services from third-party websites that subscribe you to multiple channels which then subscribe to you back